Phone Calls

7 months into the long distance relationship and It's been 3 years and 4 months since the boy and girl started dating. They connect by calling each other every time.

Hishiro was walking to school where no one was walking with her. She sometimes looked as of a habit to her right where her boyfriend would usually be there to smile or have a small talk with her. Sometimes he would take her hand and still blush even though they have been dating for a long time but since the move, she missed those times. She started blowing hot air on her hands since it was winter. She gets cold quite easily and then she remembered that Kaizaki would always tell her to bring gloves but she would never listen to him because she knew that Kaizaki would take off one of his gloves and put it on hers while he grabbed her other hand and shoved it into his pocket where there was a hot pocket ready to warm both of their hands. Hishiro already missed Kaizaki so much and it was just the beginning of the day. They had talked last night but she still wanted to talk to him more. She took out her phone and started pushing buttons. She brought the phone up to her ear and waited to hear his voice.

"Hello?" She immediately had a smile on her face as she continued her walk towards the school.

"Arata, I'm sorry to call you this early in the morning." On the other end of the line, she heard him yawn and a small laugh escaped her lips.

"It's alright, Chizuru, and I know you were laughing at me. I'm just tired from studying and talking with you." He tried arguing back but he knew it was futile. "So, are you on the way to school now?"

"Mm, I just wanted to hear your voice before school," Hishiro said without hesitation and Kaizaki just laughed.

"You are so cute, you know that Chizuru. I swear you'll kill me from cuteness overload." Hishiro started pouting when he said that and he knew that she was pouting. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry, forgive me, Chizuru?"

"I'll make a mental note of not being cute. Give me a moment to do that right now I'm entering the school gates." Hishiro said and there was silence until she said something else. "And... I'll... forgive you just this once." Hishiro by then didn't feel the cold winter on her anymore. She was blushing so much that her clothes were practically steaming from her words and Kaizaki's. On the other end, she could hear in the distance since she knew that Kaizaki didn't want to hurt anything of Hishiro's.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOO! SHE FORGAVE ME!" She waited for him to get back on his phone and he said into the mic. "I love you so much, Chizuru, you have no idea how much happiness you bring me."

"I know." was all Hishiro said as she took off her outdoor shoes and switched them with her indoor shoes. She put the phone back to her ear and Kaizaki didn't notice that she wasn't even listening to him so he kept rambling.

"and then Yoake here started saying that I need to focus more on studying if we want to be together after high school I mean we are only in our senior year. Besides it's just-" Hishiro slipped the cell phone out of her ears and placed it on her desk and started taking off her jacket and pulled out her notes for today's lesson. Once she was done she placed the cell phone back in her ear. "then, Onoya comes over and jus- Onoya: Yahoo Arata-kun, guess what I have something juicy for you. Kaizaki: what is it can't you see I'm on the phone with my girlfriend. Onoya: Fine, I won't bug ya but seriously I'm surprised you guys kept this long distance up for this long. I mean I would have broken up with my boyfriend after a month. Kaizaki: You are still going out with Yoake though and it's been a year since you guys' long distance relationship."

"Um, I'm still on the phone." Hishiro interrupted them.

"Oh right, I'm currently on the phone with Chizuru. I want to talk to my Chizuru here not you Onoya. Onoya shoo shoo I want to talk to my girlfriend alone." Kairu walked up to Hishiro's desk and lightly tapped her desk to get her attention. "Class is about to start Chizuru, you better focus or else we won't be able to go to university together." She heard him laugh and before she said anything. "Okay, my class is starting as well I need to go talk later?" The phone line cut off from there and Hishiro looked at Kairu with annoyance.

"Hishiro, good morning," Kairu said with a welcoming smile and Hishiro smiled back.

"Good morning, Kairu, what are you up to?"

"Nothing much, but I'm going to tell you this, I'm going to beat you in today's exam and you better be prepared okay." Their school was one of the top 5 prestigious prep schools in the country. Hishiro was at the top of her class as well as her whole entire grade. Hishiro didn't really care whether or not she was the best in anything she just studied as hard as she could so she could be with Kaizaki. Kaizaki was the one who helped her through her problems in middle school as well as high school. He was also the one who showed her there was more to life than studying. Kaizaki also liked her for the fact that she was about to keep focus on her studies and not let anyone affect her in any way. She liked getting praised by him no matter what small thing it was.

"Okay." Was all she could say before the bell rang and Kairu went to her seat. She finally made friends after 3 months into the new move and she felt happy with herself since she didn't have Kaizaki helping her every step of the way. When she told him that she made friends with 3 other people he was really overjoyed.

Classes ended and lunch arrived Hishiro was about to call Kaizaki once more since she knew his schedule and the hours didn't change for either of them besides their lunch time was almost the same. Hers started at 11:45 while his start at 11:37. Before she could open up her phone Kairu and Ohga approached her.

"Hey, Kazu, Honoka and I, are about to grab some lunch in the cafe. Do you want to come with?" Kairu said as she pointed towards the door.

"It's okay, I want to have lunch with Arata," Hishiro said as she was about to turn on her phone. Kairu snatched it out of her hands and said.

"You can survive lunch without him. Come on, let's go." Hishiro was pulled by the arm and they went to the cafeteria. At that time Hishiro was really feeling happy that she got to chat with her friends. Kaizaki once said when they were in middle school even though they are dating and that lovers should place each other as a top priority. However, having friends to chat with every once in a while is a good thing makes you feel like you are loved by people. Hishiro smiled at Kaizaki's words for some reason he would comfort her no matter what was happening to her. Hishiro shook her head and started focusing on her friends and she found out a lot of things. Ohga and Kairu finally started calling each other by their first names after 2 years of dating. Honoka was getting better at juggling volleyball and her studies however she still failed a subject or 2 when an exams came. Before lunch ended Hishiro was handed her phone back and she quickly called Kaizaki. She waited for him to pick up.

"Hello?" He said and Hishiro was happy that she wasn't too late.

"I'm sor-." She was cut off when it said.

"I'm sorry for the pause. I'm currently not available at the moment. So just leave me a message and I'll get back to you. Bye." The voicemail of his recording said and hung up. Hishiro looked at the time and his lunch was already over. Hishiro felt dejected that she didn't have a conversation with him but then again there was always after school that she can have another conversation with him. She turned off her phone and attended her class as usual. It was exams for all 3 periods and when she was finished with her exams it was already after school. She was finished packing up and put on her coat that's when she pulled out her phone and called Kaizaki once more.

"Arata, isn't available right now, may I ask who is calling?" A female voice that was too familiar answered the phone.

"Braided glasses girl where is Arata?" Hishiro said clearly irritated.

"Hey give me my phone who said that you could touch my phone without my permission."

"Arata?"

"Heya, Chizuru, classes just ended man exams are a pain. I hope all the things you taught me weren't in vain. I'm going to go pray to the gods to make it successful." He said. Hishiro just stood at her desk talking to Kaizaki. Over at Kairu and Ohga, they watched Hishiro talking on her cell phone.

"She's doing it again. Man, I can't separate them no matter what I do huh." Kairu said really irritated by this fact.

"Now, now, Rena, there is nothing wrong with talking to the one you love." Ohga tried to calm her down but it just added oil to the fire.

"You don't even understand. Every single time I see her she is happily on her phone chatting away with her boyfriend. I know that he isn't here and she doesn't want the distance to sadden her but this is too much."

"If we were in a long distance relationship wouldn't you do the same thing?" Ohga asked her seeing if she would look at it in Hishiro's shoes.

"That's different," Kairu said and still looked at Hishiro. "You have no idea how different it is between me and her in our romance lives." Hishiro started walking out the door and Kairu snatched the cellphone away from her again and said. "Sorry, Kaizaki but I'm taking her girlfriend." and before she turned off the phone he said something. When she took the phone off her ear she saw the screen and gripped the phone tightly. No one noticed her irritation and turned off the phone and slid it into her bag. "You're going to come with me, shopping since it's almost Christmas. I need to buy a gift for baka Kazu over here." Ohga wasn't offended by this since this was how Kairu was. "And you need to buy a gift for Kaizaki as well." Hishiro nodded and she started to blush at the thought of getting Kaizaki a gift. The last time she got him a gift he was so happy that he practically made a shrine in his room saying that it's a gift that only the gods could use it.

---

The trip to the shopping mall...

Kairu kept on talking as Hishiro listened to her words intently since she couldn't really do anything else. Her phone was in Kairu's bag and Kairu refused to give it bag until they were going their separate ways. On the way near to the shopping mall, there were some flowers lying near a crosswalk post. Hishiro stopped in her tracks and looked at the post and Kairu noticed this. She grabbed Hishiro's hand and dragged her away from the scene since they had limited time in choosing presents. After they entered the mall, Kairu picked out a present for Ohga and it was a keychain that had a person saying baka. It was a total coincidence that the person looked like Kairu. Hishiro was still looking for a present and Kairu took that time to go buy her gloves for Hishiro since she never once seen Hishiro with gloves and it was the middle of winter which meant that her hands would get frostbites at this point.

After a long while, Hishiro finally found a present for Kaizaki. He recently got into cameras whether it was photos or videos he would take them whenever he thought it was a good time. Her present for him was a photo case since he would always print out the pictures he took at school, in the morning, during school, when they were on dates and even his messages towards Hishiro. He would always get yelled at when he kept on buying memory sticks since he would fill his up after 2-4 weeks. Sometimes he would take her to the store with him before their date and start printing off the photos so he wouldn't have to waste more money. When Hishiro bought the present, her and Kairu started walking back home and they passed by the flowers that were at the crosswalk. Kairu thanked the gods that the photo wasn't up in that shrine of a grave. When they parted ways Kairu gave back the phone to Hishiro. Before Kairu left she said to hishiro.

"Hishiro, I can't stand you looking like this. You have to remember everything about Kaizaki. You can't keep living in a relationship like this." Hishiro was confused by her words. She needed confirmation from what she said but Kairu already left. The only person who could tell her was Kaizaki himself.

When Hishiro got back home she turned on her phone and it said that she didn't have any missed calls or messages. She thought that Kaizaki was angry at her this thought made her scared. She called him and placed the phone by her ear. In the background, she heard something ringing but she thought it was her home phone getting spammed by long distance people and ignored it. She got the same voicemail again and she tried it again. When it finally picked up she heard a yawn before answering.

"Hello?" Hishiro sighed in relief. "Chizuru? It's me, Arata." She heard another yawn from the other line.

"Arata? I thought you were angry at me." She gripped her phone hoping that he was angry.

"Hmm, sorry I'm a bit tired but I have to tell you something Chizuru."

"Okay, you can tell me."

"I got some days booked off from work and it seems that I can come and visit you." Hishiro was shocked by this information and she was smiling with excitement. It's been too long that they had last seen each other. "Chizuru, I know we haven't seen each other in a long time but let's meet up next week at the station around 10 okay?" Hishiro just nodded. "Good, I'll see you then. I love you and good night." The phone clicked off. Hishiro was excited for this moment and she loved being with Kaizaki. She went to bed without reviewing notes but she didn't care it's not like her grade would drop because of one day of not studying. She started dreaming of Kaizaki.

---

Dream...

Hishiro was running late for their date and it was already 30 minutes late to their appointed time. Hishiro was running towards the station she knew that Kaizaki wouldn't get angry by the fact that she was late. She wanted to spend every single minute with him because they had a limited time with each other now that they were a distance apart. It also cost money to go to a different town by train but Kaizaki would do anything for her. She knew that but she couldn't help but feel uneasy by the fact that he was always the one who did everything first. She was scared that he would get tired of her and leave her behind with someone else who was in the same town, same place, same school as him. She was running so much that her legs and lungs hurt. She could feel that air drying her throat so much that she could taste blood every time she went to swallow some of her spit to hydrate her throat. It hurt so much with the running but she wanted to see him. That's when she finally saw him he was reading on his phone waiting for her to come. He had his duffle bag slung over his shoulders. He wore a plain white shirt with dark blue jeans he also wore a necklace that was her gift to Kaizaki on his birthday in middle school. Hishiro shouted out for his name and he looked up from his phone and started sprinting to her. When he got close enough he pulled her into an embrace.

"Chizuru, you came." He said happily. Hishiro wanted to get out of his arms since she had been running non-stop.

"Get off of me please, I reek of sweat and it doesn't smell nice." She said as he weak legs gave out from the constant exercise. Kaizaki felt her fall and scooped her up in a bridal style. Good thing Hishiro wasn't wearing a short skirt or else everyone would be seeing her panties. She looked at his expression and he had a big smile on him that made him look like an idiot.

"Nope, not going to let you go. You can't even walk anymore and besides you don't reek of sweat I think you smell fine." Hishiro looked away blushing and said loud enough for Kaizaki to hear.

"Pervert." Kaizaki laughed it off as he started walking off with Hishiro still in his arms towards her house. The whole time Kaizaki was there they spent every waking moment together and when it was time for him to go back Hishiro accompanied him to the station as always. It became a ritual for them to do this. As Hishiro watched Kaizaki walk in front of her admiring the town as he always had with his camera and took pictures of Hishiro as well. One time when Kaizaki was changing the battery for his camera Hishiro went ahead to go grab him a drink from the shopping mall since he was dehydrated from staying in the sun for too long. By the time she got out of the mall there was a huge crowd outside of it. Hishiro didn't want to see what the commotion was and went to the place where Kaizaki was. Only that he wasn't there, Hishiro got worried at that time since he was no longer to be seen until she remembered that there was a crowd. She started pushing people to see what was going on. Deep in her mind, she thought that Kaizaki wasn't in the middle of it that he was fine but in her heart, she knew something was wrong. She didn't want to believe it until she was at the front of it all. There was a little boy who was crying beside a broken person who wasn't moving. She saw the camera that was near him. Her heart dropped as she knew who that was. She started running towards them but she was stopped by someone. She didn't care who it was even though that person said it was dangerous and that she should step back. She kept yelling his name hoping that it was one of his tricks that he would get up and say his usual. 'Hey, Chizuru, I got you.' She finally managed to get through the person and knelt down at Arata who looked like he was sleeping. She didn't even see the blood that was still continuing to increase on the ground. She pushed some hair out of his face.

"It's so cold, Arata, you are never cold. Arata, your jokes aren't funny anymore, come on, please get up. I love you so please get up... Please..." She pleaded and with that she woke up in cold sweat.

---

Reality...

When Hishiro woke up she didn't like how her dream turned into a nightmare. She looked around for her phone and when she found it she started calling Kaizaki. He would always pick up to her even if it was 4 in the morning. He never picked up and it went to voicemail. She kept calling over and over again but he never once picked up. The dream kept flashing back to her and she wanted to shake it away. She fumbled with her phone until finally, she heard Kaizaki's voice.

"Geez, Chizuru, you got another nightmare." He laughed over the phone. Hishiro felt so much relief that she started crying. "Hello? You listening Chizuru?"

"Yes." She sniffled. "I am listening."

"Do you need me to cheer you up?" He said.

"Yes... please... do."

"Alrighty, Chizuru... I love you... I'll always be there for you... even if we are in a long distance relationship it doesn't mean that we aren't going to separate no matter what happens okay?"

"I know... I know."

"Come on I poured out my heart for you can't you do that same." Hishiro smiled.

"I love you too, Arata." The voice recording on her phone stopped right there and Hishiro started crying.

"See was that hard for you?" Hishiro smiled when he replied to her. "You're the only one for me so go back to sleep." The voice recording on her phone stopped right there and Hishiro started crying. Hishiro didn't want to believe anything that was happening right now. She had hoped that all of this was a dream that she could wake up to. She had finally cried herself to sleep.

The next morning Hishiro tried calling Kaizaki just the moment as she was getting ready for school. She heard something go off in her closet and she opened her closet up. She found a small box where the sound was coming from. She opened up the box and saw Kaizaki's phone tucked into it. She thought it wasn't true that it was someone else's phone that just happened to be the same model and same number. She opened up the phone and did Kaizaki's passcode which was the date of when they started dating even the year. There it was him and her as the wallpaper on his screen. All those missed calls that Hishiro had done over the past 4 months. She dropped the box and the phone. She fell to her knees and kept staring at the phone.

"It has to be a lie right?" Hishiro said to no one in particular. Just when she saw someone reach out to grab the phone. She looked over and saw Kaizaki smiling at her.

"That's not nice, Chizuru, dropping my phone like that. I'm not rich enough to buy another one you know." Hishiro tried to grab him but he wasn't actually there and the phone was still in the exact same spot as it was when it was dropped. She had recollected the many times where she recorded Kaizaki's voice just so she wouldn't be lonely when the move happened. Hishiro finally figured out why Kairu said what she had said. Kaizaki was dead and has been for months but she didn't want to believe it since her phone calls with him felt so real every day pretending to chat with him. Holding that last sliver of hope she once had. Even if it cost her sanity in the process. Hishiro picked up her phone and went back to the voice recordings. She pressed play on the last one.

"Chi. Zu. Ru is the best of all. Chi. Zu. Ru. is the best of all. Chi. Zu Ru. is my girlfriend. I may have to pinch myself." He started laughing as he made it sound like a happy birthday song. She didn't reply to him and let the recording go on. "Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday today is our anniversary. Let's make this a good one. It's been 3 years since I asked you out do you have any words?" Hishiro in the recording replied.

"I do. I love you, Arata."

"Yes! I love you too Chizuru. I want to scream out to the top of mu lungs saying that I'm the happiest person."

"Please don't."

"Alright since you asked me not to I won't."

"Good now, what did you get me?"

"Hmm hmm, I wonder now... Okay okay, I'll go get it so don't pull out the demon of flicks." She heard thumping and then he finally said. "There do you like it. It took me like all of my savings for me to get it." Hishiro pulled out a ring from the box and slid it onto her finger. "This is the best proof that I can do for you since I will always love you. This gift is a pair and I'll never take it off." The recording finished, however, Hishiro by then was already gone. She had left the window open and took some pills to go to sleep with. She was found by her parents who were worried when she didn't show up for dinner for the past 2 days.

---

Yoake and Onoya...

"Hey I came back from studying abroad what did I miss?" Onoya rushed into his arms and was already crying. "Hey what happened?"

"H-hishiro committed suicide." Yoake eyes widened in shock. He grabbed his girlfriend by the shoulder and hoped that it was one of her pranks of the day.

"Y-you-you're lying." Onoya shook her head. "I didn't think she would have it in her.

"They said that she forgot to close her window before going to sleep and they found Kaizaki's phone and ring beside her.

"At least they are together right?" Onoya just nodded her head as they glanced at the empty seat that Kaizaki used to occupy in.

Omake

"Chizuru," Kaizaki said as Hishiro was crying. He put his arms around her. "I'm sorry, for leaving you this early and making you cry so much." Hishiro shook her head and looked up at him.

"Are you really here?" Kaizaki looked at her and just nodded his head.

"And I'll always be."

"Are you sure?"

"Hey, Chizuru, I got you." He playfully sang and Hishiro just flicked his forehead.

"Hey, that hurts you know right?" Hishiro just hugged him and nothing at all. Kaizaki just patted her head.

"Come on let's go. We can't stay here for long." Hishiro nodded and let go of him and started walking hand in hand towards the light.

---

Omake 2

Kairu snatched up the phone and said. "Sorry, Kaizaki but I'm taking her girlfriend." Kaizaki in the phone said in reply.

"Chizuru, when you move I'll miss you dearly but remember to make friends. Also if your friends are listening to this then please take care if my stubborn straight-forward girlfriend would you. That's just in case if something happens to me."

"Arata you are weird, there is no way something is going to happen to you." Arata started laughing and kairu gripped the phone and looked at the phone screen. It said the date before Hishiro moved to the school. She turned it off and put it into her bag. I need to help Hishiro whether it's going to hurt her or not. I'll respect your words and try to take care of her. Kairu thought as She pulled Hishiro out the school.

Author's Note

That's the end of it guys. So well.... Did you expect it to go like that? Who here saw the hints I tried to make as of he was dead and they were chatting via voice recording. I mean if it was too vague then I'm sorry it's my first time writing something like this and by the way this story is from Relife. Well, I only used the characters name and somewhat their personalities but I find that I went OOC and yes if you saw this on fanfiction.net then that's me. Anyways first time back here in like what 1-2 years I have forgotten anyways rate review do as you like hope you enjoyed it as much as I liked writing it.